The picturesque ruin of Castle Potštejn reawakens

Castle Potštejn, the history of which stretches back to the 13th century, is gradually changing and constantly luring more visitors to the scenic valley of the Divoká Orlice River.

The ruin of the medieval castle recently acquired a new roof, and the tourist nature trail and visitor car park in the settlement around the castle have been expanded.
In the castle grounds stand the St. John of Nepomuk chapel dating from 1766, the last stop on the “Sanctuaries of the Holy Sepulchre” Stations of the Cross route dating from 1754, and a memorial plaque relating to “Treasure”, about which the writer Alois Jirásek wrote in the book of the same name.
In the fourth entrance gate, there is an exhibition for visitors documenting the history of the castle. An interesting point is that, over the long centuries of its colourful history, the castle was conquered only once, by Charles IV himself.

A new educational trail has been created that includes several panels with basic information about the history of the castle, its fortification, and the nearby village also called Potštejn. The small town of Potštejn became famous through a legend about fairy tale treasure. Piles of gold, silver and precious stones are said to be hidden in one of the secret underground tunnels that connect the ruins of the once majestic castle with the ruins of nearby medieval forts. The treasure was supposed to have been hidden by the robber-knight Mikuláš, who made a living by pillaging the surrounding area in the 14th century.

Recently, the almost forgotten legends about the treasure and secret tunnels in Castle Potštejn have come to life once again. In the first half of the 18th century, the castle and its lands were acquired by the Harbuval-Chamare family. Jan Antonín of this family line believed in the legend about the treasure and searched the castle from top to bottom, but found nothing. In July 2008, the ancient tunnel was discovered. According to archaeologists, it was unlikely that there would still be some unfound medieval treasure under the remains of the walls, but what if...

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